Welcome to the Madhouse!
by sharkiegirl77
Summary: Modern!AU, rated for: cussing, violence, BL and all that jazz. A re-make of my other fic, Mad Love, but with a more improved plot. I suck at summaries :P
1. Chapter 1

**(AN) Annnnd, here it goes again! Seriously, all of the support I've got has been awesome, and I really appreciate all you guys! So, sorry about the long wait, but it's finally here! Hope you enjoy :)**

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Chapter One: This isn't going to go well...

I'd more or less ran as fast as possible towards the main wooden doors of the mansion-styled building. The cab I'd leapt out of drove off back on a lonely journey to Clock Town. Clock Town is still the biggest city I've ever set foot in. Mazes of streets and alleyways, and skyscrapers that tower over you as you wander past different people: some shifty, some nervous, some zombie-like. I always felt like the place needed a hero... or at least some more cops that actually_ did_ something. That's probably one of the reasons why I decided to go and try to save people from themselves. Which is what brought me to the creepy asylum that looked way past it's sell-by date. The only problem with that, was that I was running an hour late for my first day on the job there.

Stupid alarm clock.

"Oh, what's your name again? Lin? Len? No, hmm... Rink? Or was it Rin?" The old lady at the massive receptionist desk in the entrance hall was hitting buttons on her typewriter really, _really_ slowly.

And that typewriter looked_ ancient_, nearly ready to explode on the spot.

My eye twitched slightly. I didn't have the time for some old woman keeping me waiting!

"Link," I corrected quietly... and quickly, hoping she'd get the message that I needed to get past as fast as possible.

"Mm, of course, dearie. Let me just type up this document for one of the doctors, you can wait in one of those chairs if you want," She pursed her bright red lips together, sounding like she'd get mad if I refused to sit and wait patiently. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, resisting the urge to sigh loudly.

"I'll stand, if you don't mind," I replied, looking around the fancy entrance hall I was standing in. There was an elevator across the room, wooden panelling lining the walls, potted plants (in every corner/ blank area) and a tiled floor. It was almost like I was standing in a hotel.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The sound of fingers typing away filled the awkward silence that hung in the room.

Tap. Tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

It was starting to annoy me.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Tap. Tap.

Tap.

Suddenly, a door behind the receptionist's desk slammed open and there stood someone really, really unexpected.

She was _just_ how she was when we were kids: bouncing green hair, bright blue eyes and an unusually small and skinny figure.

"Saria?" I managed to say, rubbing my eyes.

"Link?! It really is you!" She gasped, looking overjoyed to see me again. I felt the same, it wasn't everyday a childhood friend showed up at the same workplace as you.

"It's been so long..." I grinned suddenly, resisting the urge to run over and give her a hug that would put even _Darunia _to shame.

And Darunia's hugs were strong, nearly _bone-breaking_.

"Eleven years, probably!" With a laugh, she gestured for me to walk over, and I hurried past the gap in between the desk and the wall to stand nearer.

"You two know each-other, then?" The receptionist looked at us curiously, almost like she was hanging onto some gossip bait.

"Oh, we were raised in the same area... Kokiri Forest, well, near there... but then Link moved away," She explained quickly, sounding a lot more calm and 'professional' than she first did. The receptionist hummed to herself, before talking.

"Mm, well... I'll let you two catch-up..." And so, the old woman went back to bashing keys as we walked through the door Saria came through.

It was like the whole building changed, just like that. We were walking down a thin corridor with dark walls and grubby dark wooden floors, a few doors dotting the walls. Most of them had dull metal plaques attached to them with weird letters and numbers engraved into it.

"I was wondering why you hadn't shown up yet, so decided to check the receptionist... this place is really big, and it's so easy to get lost... I'd recommend using that map Malon should have gave you, just in case you get lost," Saria talked casually as we strode down the extremely long hallway.

That map that Malon 'should have' gave me was lying in my apartment under a pile of clothes.

"Right, I'll check it if I get lost," I nodded, pretending I had it with me. I just hoped that I _wouldn't_ get lost.

"It's so strange, having an old friend work here. Funnily enough, your office is just across from my own, so we'll be seeing each-other a lot by the looks of it!" Saria laughed happily.

"That's great! Um, anyway... how are you doing?" I made light conversation, still trying to get over the weird coincidence of us meeting again.

"Oh... there's so much to tell you about! I moved here after High School, got my degree... hmm... got a job here, that was three years ago..."

"When you were eighteen?" I realised, impressed. She laughed.

"It was just a simple job in the kitchens... then I realised I wanted to help even more and put my degree to good use," She explained.

"I skipped a year of education stuff... Navi got sick... but I have a degree too!" I rubbed the back of my neck, talking randomly.

And feeling like a moron.

"Well, duh, Link. If you didn't have one, you wouldn't even be able to apply here, silly!" Saria giggled.

"Right..." I laughed awkwardly.

"I forgot to mention... I got engaged to Mido... do you remember him?" She sounded like she was treading into dangerous territory, as we walked through a door and into another, more shorter, corridor. I guessed that this was the offices since there were boards with names on them (attached to most of the doors).

"How could I forget?" I shrugged with a small laugh, remembering our 'friend'. He used to be my worst nightmare, him and his gang. They'd trip me over, blame me for everything, throw stuff at me, but I didn't really care since Saria nearly always swooped in and told them to leave me alone, before I could say anything to them myself. Mido would then go bright red and back off, before death glaring me and shuffling away.

"Wait, did you just say _engaged_?!" And, according to Saria, she was planning on getting married to that same kid. Who she used to hate. Well,_ that_ surprised me...

"Y-Yes. Last Spring, but... it's getting more and more complicated as time goes on. I have my job, and he's still in Hyrule. It's... difficult, but we've been dating since High School..." She nervously admitted.

"Uh... this is gonna sound weird, but... 's he still a jerk?" I curiously asked, and she burst out into giggles again.

"You don't know the half of it! He's still a jerk... but he's _my_ jerk, I bring out the best in him... and he makes me laugh, sometimes. He can't help his personality, I suppose."

"Huh..." I didn't know what to say.

"B-But I'm rambling, sorry! This is your office, right here! You'll have enough space to fill in paperwork when you start getting it, and... believe me, you'll get a _lot_ of paperwork."

"What about?" I frowned.

"Oh, the usual, nothing to worry about: progress, behaviour, medication details... all that stuff, nothing you can't handle!" She reassured me, and I nodded.

"Okay."

I had no idea what I'd just gotten myself into: which was a river of paperwork. Great...

"Well, I'll leave you to get settled in... Malon will probably talk to you in the next half an hour... I need to go to a meeting with Mr. Rauru, seeya!" She waved, before quickly walking back through the door we just passed through.

"Bye..." I spoke to the empty hallway.

After walking around my new office (which was just big enough to be considered comfy), I noticed the key to the door lying on the large desk. There was a label attached to it which read the number of the office: 024.

Just how many offices _were_ there?

I tried to figure out the number of patients, and then the doctors... but I gave up, not really knowing how many people were in the massive building. And, then, Malon (who'd showed me around the previous week) walked in with her hands on her hips.

"Oh, so you actually turned up!"

From there, I got my ears nagged off and shown around (again) by the redhead, who kept acting like I was some scared little kid.

"That's Zant, but he can't hurt you... we have to keep him under constant supervision and drugs, as he's... prone to violence," Malon spoke with a serious voice as we stood before one of the 'high-profile cases'.

These were the kind of people it'd usually take years of training to handle...

"I can hear you," He looked up from the spot on the floor he'd been staring at, revealing unnatural skin and yellow eyes.

"Miss, I think you should leave... he's in one of _those_ moods today..." One of the five guards dotted around turned to Malon, looking concerned.

"Ah, of course... I'm sorry," She nodded, taking a glance as the other looked up slowly and laughed, before looking back down, and then looking back up, and then... you get it. Malon dragged me away, shaking her head.

"Don't stare, please," She warned. I snapped back to reality.

"Right..."

Around ten minutes later, we stood in front of another smaller cell, one of a small block of ten. All of the cells were filled with quiet, old-looking people who merely sat in a corner and paid little attention to us. All except for one.

"Mmm?" He waddled over from his bed. And then Malon started talking to him, with a mixture of irritated sighs coming from everyone else (including the one guard standing in front of the entrance to the little nook of cells).

"Mr. Tingle, this is Link."

"Is he a fairy?" I could see why everyone sighed, 'Mr. Tingle' had a loud and... _weird... _voice.

"I'm afraid not."

"Hmm. Tingle might listen if Link has rupees..."

"Nope, I haven't got any of them on me," I said, mainly to myself.

Why would I be getting a job if I had money? Not that money is everything... but still.

"You really don't have much of a choice, Mr. Tingle, he'll be looking after you from now on."

"Then surely he must be a fairy! A green fairy!" Tingle laughed, shaking his head. He looked pretty old, in his mid-thirties, so he reminded me of a wise old man when he did that.

"Why green?" I mumbled, yet he still heard me.

"Why not, green fairy? It suits you perfectly!" He defended the nickname.

"You have the aura of green," He quickly added, "like the forest fairies!"

"Right..." Malon nodded tiredly.

"Uh, but..." She gave me a look that plainly said '_you've lost this battle, have fun with your new name_'.

"Ah! Hehe! Tingle will be looking forward to seeing you again, green fairy! That is... if you... _do_ see me again..." Tingle's cheerful smile kept on his face as he talked, before he turned around and skipped back off to his bed.

"Tell the night guard to be extra careful later..." Malon muttered to the security guard as we walked out.

"Yes, Miss Malon!" He nodded quickly, taking his hat off as she walked by.

She giggled randomly after we were out of earshot.

"Hee... I love it when the guards do that, it makes me feel like royalty!"

I laughed slightly at that, Malon was the kind of person who wanted to be treated like a princess.

"Oh, ahem... I thought you were Saria just then...! Um, ignore me, please..." She suddenly flushed, remembering that I_ wasn't_ Saria.

"It's no problem, act however you want, I don't mind," I shook my head with a smile. She tucked some hair behind her ear, flushing.

_'No, wait... I didn't mean it in a lovely dovey way!' _My thoughts cried.

"Really? W-well, your fault if I annoy you too much! No more formalities! I guess we should be more friendly, we'll be working alongside each-other, anyway..." Malon beamed, nodding at the thought and shaking my hand happily.

"Yup," With that, we walked back to the offices. To have a long and boring talk about rules, certain situations and other stuff I ended up ignoring later on anyway.

But back _then_, I felt like everything would be a piece of cake.

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**(AN, I'm being completely different to my last fic ^_^'' R&R, if you wanna, it's up to you. Oh, and they'll be more Dark in the next chapter so stay tuned~ and I swear on my own life that I'll update quicker than I have been... I know how annoying it can get to wait for stuff ehehe XD)**


	2. Chapter 2

**(AN) Hey, guys! XD Christmas has left me running around like a headless chicken so this chapter came out a little later than normal (not to mention, I keep getting distracted by everything haha). Well, as always, enjoy!**

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(Last Time)

She tucked some hair behind her ear, flushing.

"Really? W-well, your fault if I annoy you too much! No more formalities! I guess we should be more friendly, we'll be working alongside each-other, anyway..." Malon beamed, nodding at the thought and shaking my hand happily.

"Yup," With that, we walked back to the offices. To have a long and boring talk about rules, certain situations and other stuff I ended up ignoring later on anyway.

But back _then_, I felt like everything would be a piece of cake.

Chapter Two: It's a small world?

College students and alcoholics were stumbling all around me, as loud music played. The woman at the counter, my friend since high school, yawned and yelled to me over the music.

"How's Darunia, anyway?!" She asked about my room-mate, who was also a friend from high school. I nodded, turning to see who'd just walked straight into me, they walked off before I could catch a glimpse.

"Good!" I replied, and she seemed to understand, smiling.

Nabooru was pretty good at lip-reading.

"And, you?! Didn't you get a job in the physco place?!" I barely heard, but still nodded quietly and stared at the drink on the counter lazily.

I felt like getting drunk, but I needed to go to 'the physco place' the next morning.

Malon had been assigning new 'cases' to me, including the task of filling-in for some doctor who hadn't shown up for a few days.

"Ooooh! You... hee... look handsome!" A random woman tripped over nothing and leaned on me drunkenly.

Nabooru grinned, shooting me a look that said: 'Looks like you have some attention, kid!'.

Then, I decided to get the heck out of there, since the woman's large group of friends started trying to abduct me. And the music was way too freaking loud. And I just got bored.

Outside the small bar was a group of other clubs and buildings, with loads of people wandering around either selling themselves or yelling random words. I nearly forgot what it was like around those places, but seeing people passing out on the street and singing off-key reminded me of (what Nabooru calls) 'the good old days!'. I shook my head to myself as I walked, remembering the dumb stuff we all used to get up to when we were in our teens.

"Great, now I feel old," I mumbled to nobody.

Then, I decided that walking all the way back to my apartment by following the 'main roads' was a waste of time, I knew about twenty different short cuts. The only problem, was that they involved going through dark and suspicious alleyways (which my 'legal guardian' Navi, would have disapproved of extremely). I snorted softly to myself, a grown man like me could easily walk through dark alleyways alone! I turned down the nearest gap between the buildings and walked, not really caring if I ran into anyone creepy.

Turning left and walking past the back doors of club after club... wasn't the most warmest and best place to be. The music I could hear in the maze of sharp turns and brick walls wasn't even _good _music.

Still, it beat walking the long and boring way home.

"Scram, criminal scum!" A deep voice barked as a door behind me smashed open, and the sound of something being thrown onto the ground made me flinch slightly. I heard a groan, and realised that a person had just been thrown out.

It sounded like it hurt.

"Says the one who charges fifty rupees for one dumb old drink!" The person yelled as the door slammed, their voice sounding rough. I noticed, in the dim light of a broken wall lamp, that the figure was still slumped onto the floor.

"Uh... are you okay?" I spoke hesitantly, they didn't notice I was there and swore loudly in surprise.

"Who the hell are you? But, more importantly, who the hell am I?" Their voice was definitely male, a little deeper than my voice (with a mocking tone behind it).

"I don't know who you are... but I'm... Link," I explained, shrugging and holding out a hand to help him up. They pawed around for the hand, almost as if they knew I'd reach out.

And, then, I pulled him up. It wasn't difficult, the guy was surprisingly light-weighed.

"You can call me Dark," He sounded content with being helped up, and talked with a small grin seeping into his voice.

"Okay, well, it's been nice meeting you... but I need to go..." I mumbled awkwardly, and was about to go until he hissed with pain.

Darunia often said I was 'too nice' and tried to be 'selfless too often' but seeing people in trouble was just impossible for me to ignore. That included the 'criminal scum' in the alleyway.

"You okay?" I felt a hand grab my arm weakly.

"Must've sprained my ankle, hehe..." Dark laughed, but with little enthusiasm. He sounded more tired than anything, which made sense since when I checked the time (in the bar) it was midnight. Goddess' knows what time it was when I met him. All I knew was that it was late.

"Can you walk?" I asked, acting a little like Navi whenever I hurt myself as a kid.

"No, I'm being reanimated from the dead by the strings of the fierce deity," I got a sarcastic reply, but instead of finding it impolite I laughed, replying with: "I'll take that as a 'no', then?" He sounded like some long-forgotten friend I never had, and I found him funny.

Besides, I remember thinking to myself, it's not like I'll ever run into him ever again, is it? There's nothing wrong with talking to someone you're never gonna see again.

"You're a clever kid, kid."

"Kid?"

"You look nineteen, so I'll call you that."

"... I'm 21..." I replied bluntly, feeling like a complete idiot. He suddenly laughed, and I felt a hand put it's weight on my shoulder.

"Seriously?! You only look my age! Haha, and I'm taller than y..."

He was cut off by a loud wailing of sirens that sounded close to us, and cursed under his breath.

"The police," I noted slowly, recognising that all-too-familiar noise.

"Must be on their daily crime-spotting spree, not like they'll catch much, though..." He yawned.

"Yeah... I think I'm gonna get out of here, now."

"Oh, why? Are you... an evil little criminal, Link?" He joked lightly.

"Why? Are you?" I shook my head in return. He suddenly went quiet, and sounded like he found those words really amusing.

"... Well, you better skedaddle, anyway, old man. I bet you have a pissed off fiancée waiting for you back home, right?"

"More like a sleeping room-mate," I shrugged.

"Room-mate with benefits?" I felt him nudge my shoulder, and I shuddered at the thought with an awkward laugh.

"No! Me and Darunia are like brothers..." I replied easily, shaking my head.

"Wait, did you say...?" He suddenly sounded extremely suspicious, and the hand on my shoulder flew off.

"Uh, I'll see you around, Dark," I merely replied, and walked away quickly.

The way his voice had snapped from joking to almost venomous towards Darunia made me get the feeling that talking about him and sticking around was a bad idea, so I left. He made no move to stop me, and I staggered through my apartment door at stupid 'o clock.

It only took fifteen minutes to get there, since I walked so fast.

I fell onto my bed and wondered what was up with the guy I met. How would he know Darunia? Why did he get kicked out of that club? Why did I feel so comfortable around him?

I shut my eyes and fell asleep with no answers to my questions.

The only moment when I did get some answers, was when I was meant to deliver a letter to Malon (from my boss, Rauru) about something 'important'. My eyes widened once I found where she was, and who she was with.

"What's he doing there?!" We both yelled, with one of us pleasantly surprised and the other dropping the letter in our hand. Malon, seven security guards, and the chief of the security guards all turned around slowly to glower at me. The 'chief' spoke first after an extremely humiliating silence,

"This man... no, this _thing_, is the lowest of the low."

"I love you too."

"Silence, Shadow."

"No need to be jealous, Carlos."

"My name's not..."

Malon shook her head at one of the security men, and he trailed off.

Yet another dumb nickname got past the radar, thanks to her.

"U-Uh, Malon... I have a letter from Mr. Rauru..."

"Isn't that the secretary's job?" Malon's eyes narrowed at me.

"Well..."

"Ha! You're a secretary boy?!" Dark snorted with a laugh.

"He just passed by and told me to give this to you," I shrugged at Malon, ignoring Dark and picking up the letter. She accepted it with a blank look, folding it and placing it in her coat's pocket.

I hated them white coats...

"You can go now."

"Right..." I nodded after staring at a certain grinning someone for a moment, in disbelief.

"Now. Go."

Malon begun to get impatient.

"So... is my gorgeous ranch-girl doctor here... your fiancée, shortie? Small world!" Dark cut in, and I slowly walked off after shrugging with a 'Right, sorry'.

The sound of him singing the words 'it's a small world after all!' followed me down the corridor until I swear I heard someone slap him.

I bit down my lip to resist laughing.

I wasn't laughing when Malon had a full-scale rant at me, later on.

"That man is not to be taken lightly. Are you even serious about your job?!" Her hand slammed down on my desk after she barged in with blazing eyes. I looked up from my papers with a little bit of shock.

"H-Huh?"

"The patient from earlier, you know each-other. Don't you dare lie to me. How do you know him?" She demanded.

I remained quiet, wondering how she'd react.

"I'm waiting," Was the impatient reaction she had to my silence.

"U-Uh... we... we met about a week ago..." I told the truth.

"What?"

"Well..." the look on her face made me choose my words carefully, "It was night-time, and dark, just on the streets... we walked into each-other and he just talked to me. I never knew he..." She gave me a look that said 'I don't buy this' but waved a hand,

"I see, I doubt you've heard of him, anyway."

"Not really."

"He's one of the most notorious of criminals around here. He looks all smiles, but he's sinister... deadly. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him," She muttered with a hint of disgust towards him.

"Yeah..."

"Look, a rookie like you would get eaten alive by a person like that... I don't mean to baby you, Link, but I'd rather you stay far away from that cell block. Got that?" She suddenly requested, and I nodded slowly.

"I'm pretty sure I have no business around there, anyway," I shrugged with a bleak smile.

"I'm pretty sure you don't, as well. Don't make me catch you going near there unless you really have to, please."

"I won't," I shook my head, the whole situation reminding me of a kid being warned by their mom.

"Okay... good. I'm sorry to be so impolite to you, Link, I'll let you get back to work," She suddenly smiled with relief.

"Thanks..." With that, she walked out.

I stared at the paper in front of me blankly, and that's when the long and never ending mist of confusion fell down on me.

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**(AN) Very dramatic, yes. R&R, if you want :P **

**PS: Not sure if I should use American spelling for this fic or just stick with British... (I'm from England, in case you didn't notice lol) I've noticed a lot of readers on here are American, so... hmm...  
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